Aydos Castle; It is located within the Aydos Forests in the Sultanbeyli district of Istanbul. Also known as “Goat Castle”, the castle is 325 meters high from Aydos Hill. The castle and its surroundings have been declared as a first degree archaeological site. This castle, one of the most important historical castles of Istanbul, is the place where movies such as Malkoçoğlu and Battal Gazi were shot. Kale has a love story that is thought to have inspired Yeşilçam’s unforgettable films. At the same time, the castle, which had a strategic importance in the process leading up to the conquest of Istanbul, was the subject of the documentary “The Door to Istanbul Aydos”, which was produced under the consultancy of Halil İnalcık.
Two centuries after the conquest, Aydos Castle, whose traces were not found even on Ottoman maps, waited for hundreds of years to come to light in the Aydos Forest in Sultanbeyli. The castle was started to be restored in 2009 with a joint project carried out by the Sultanbeyli Municipality and the Istanbul Governorship. The restoration project includes the restoration of the outer and inner walls and 12 bastions in accordance with their original form. In addition, as a result of the archaeological excavations initiated by the Istanbul Archeology Museums in 2016, important architectural structures and finds dating back to the early bronze age were unearthed. Among these finds are a church, chapel, 2 cisterns, waterways, buildings used for storage and other living spaces. With the completion of the restoration, Aydos Castle was opened to tourism and can be visited by visitors.
History of Aydos Castle
Covering an area of 26 thousand square meters, Aydos Castle was built during the Eastern Roman Empire. The estimated date of construction is the 11th and 12th centuries. The name of the castle at that time “Aetos” means “eagle” in Greek. This name has been preserved with minor changes to the present day. The castle gained importance with the approach of the Turks to Istanbul in the 11th century, but with the start of the Crusades, the Turks left the region.
At the end of the 13th century, struggles started again in the region. Between 1326 and 1328, a large part of the Kocaeli Peninsula passed to the Ottoman Empire and the border between the two states became the Aetos-Pentikion line. Aydos Castle was conquered by the Ottoman army led by Abdurrahman Gazi in 1328 during the Orhan Gazi period. The purpose of the conquest of the castle is to prevent the help that may come from the Byzantine side for the conquest of Gebze Castle.
The Love Story in the Conquest of the Castle
The love story of the Ottoman historian Âşık Paşazade about the conquest of the castle is quite interesting. This love story has inspired Yeşilçam’s unforgettable films such as Malkoçoğlu and Battal Gazi. The Ottoman Sultan Orhan Gazi commissioned Abdurrahman Gazi, Akça Koca and Konur Alp to take the Aydos Castle. First Semendra Castle was captured and then Aydos Castle was besieged.
According to the story; One night, the daughter of the keeper of the castle falls into a fiery well, and one of the Ottoman soldiers, Abdurrahman Gazi, pulls himself out of the well. The tekfurun’s daughter, who wants to help Abdurrahman Gazi, who besieged the castle with the effect of the dream, offers help by throwing a note describing her dream to the Ottoman soldiers. Thanks to the confidential information leaked by Tekfur’s daughter, Abdurrahman Gazi makes a sudden raid on the castle at midnight. Climbing the rope that Tekfur’s daughter hung down, he enters the castle and opens the door of the castle from the inside. In this way, Aydos Castle is conquered. After the conquest, Abdurrahman Gazi married the daughter of the Tekfur of Aydos Castle. This story is a love story told for many years between Turks and Greeks.
After the conquest of Aydos Castle, raids were organized to Üsküdar under the leadership of Abdurrahman Gazi. However, over time, the castle loses its importance. After the conquest of Izmit in 1337, in Hodja Sadettin Efendi’s work titled “Tâcü’t-Tevârîh”, Orhan Gazi liked the city very much and had Aydos Castle demolished because it was no longer needed. is said to have brought.
